It’s getting to be the summer season, which means cookouts, barbecues, and days so hot you don’t want to cook. It also means vine ripe, juicy, delicious tomatoes. I used to be a tomato hater myself. I’ve always liked tomato sauces and cooked tomatoes, but raw tomatoes somehow didn’t do it for me. These days, however, I can’t get enough of high quality, perfectly ripe tomatoes.
Tomatoes go so well with so many things, but I think that its real best friend is basil. Whether it’s a caprese salad, a tomato basil pasta sauce or fresh baked margherita pizza, tomatoes and basil really bring out the best in each other.
My parents made a great caprese salad this past weekend for a family cookout. I love the blending of flavors in this simple dish, with the balsamic vinegar melding the flavors of the fresh tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese. My father really elevated the classic salad by adding some finely sliced rings of shallot. It added a great bite to the dish and made it special.
On really hot days during the summer, there is a great tomato sauce that I like to make. It’s super simple and doesn’t require any cooking aside from boiling pasta. For the sauce itself all you have to do is dice some tomatoes up fine and mix them with a bunch of basil (to taste) cut in a chiffonade. Add a couple cloves of chopped garlic (or one if you’re not as much of a garlic freak as I am), and then mix everything together with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Everything marinates together and is delicious tossed with your favorite pasta and some grated parmesan. Fresh mozzarella works well here too.
Even when I make a classic slow-cooked tomato sauce for pasta, I love adding fresh basil (and lots of it) right at the end of the cooking. It brightens up the sauce and adds a ton of flavor, even more so than adding dried basil.
And let’s face it: who can say no to a piping hot slice of thin crust, cheese-bubbling pizza with tomatoes and fresh basil on it? Sometimes pizza tends to get overly complicated with creative sauces and toppings. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good thai chicken or barbeque pizza, but sometimes I just need a nice slice of margherita to bring me home.
What are your favorite ways to use tomatoes and basil?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on May 25, 2009 @ 12:34 EST5EDT
